ok thanks alot for all the info

so i have been looking around and i havent been able to find out if the shadow has more or less DOTs as the sage does... anyone able to answer this question?

So im confused on why i should chose sage balance rather than shadow because it seems like shadow has everything going for it.

your question is a very good one these other two individuals trying to answer you are doing so without actually looking at what the stats say. So i will try to articulate the delema better. This is something that i have wondered myself for a long time but this is what i got for you... Rocket punch is a melee attack since it has a 4m range. For VG/PT strength increases melee damage and melee crit so from my position and from a technically position Rocket Punch should be affected by strength however you never really know what weird things Bioware will do so my answer to you isn't 100% unless a dev comes out and explains it.

this is actually an interesting question because the answer is really a non answer in the sense that there is at least halfway viable specs for both pure tank or hybrids. it really depends on what type of role you want to play with your tank.

Umm sniper/gunslingers squishy? i would like to know what you are smoking because whatever it is it must be some good stuff.

Im sorry when i was saying best mitigation i ment best passive mitgation which is far better than burt imo (obviously if they are set up correctly which BW never does)... And yes VG has always been advertised as best passive mitigation And saying TOR's roll system is good because its better than WoW's is like saying i only killed 5 people so i am a good person because Hitler killed millions. And the point that most people miss about combat roll systems is that people should be able to tank like a mofo and people should be able to be able to dps like a mofo because there is balance... (something most people dont really understand) If u tank like a beast then u should have no damage whatso ever. If you DPS like mad then you are paper... its pretty simple. As far ar the mechanics go most of the best attacks are force/tech so defense is off the table... Also most of the main/best attacks also have some sort of crit increase which pushes shield off the table... Pretty basic argument really i hope i dont have to go into further detail because we are kind of getting off topic.

I have played VG tank since the game started so I do have some bit of knowledge about the topic. In 2.0 VG gained some very needed help however it still didn't totally match up. Also on another note all the classes got 2x the buff we did and that is being modest. VG tanks have been ignored since the start. The VG tank class as I see it and how many others see it is that VG tanks are slow but sturdy and I am totally fine with VG being set up in that way however we are missing the sturdy part. The only thing VG tank has going for it is that we have snares, roots and stuns out the yin yang. Our ability to keep the enemy out of range is our only strength and is easily countered by a well played or half way intelligent player by simply snaring us. Which every class has easily accessible. Now isn't the above paragraph kind of out of place since bw has always stated that the VG has always suppose to be the best mitigation tank not the one with the best control. So if you can form this into one question then that is it lol... Got your work cut out for you. And dont even get me started on how extremely one sided the combat rolling system is. I Mean im sorry but it looks like a 3 year old wrote it... Simple is not better when it comes to this.

... Two thumbs down...

im sorry i hate a having a set rotation and think its completely ridiculous because pvp is fluid and if your doing the same thing over and over again you are predictable and thus easily countered. But since everyone seems to be obsessed with specific rotations i would have to say jump in there use some action with stokestrike or ion pulse then use 1 freeshot explosive surge spend more action with either HIB or ion pulse then use the other Free shot explosive surge... basically entertwine Free shots with your action costing abilities to get the most out of your energy bar (energy blast should obviously be used in the same way as the Free shots). Also then you can link your attacks that are on the GCD with your attacks that are off the GCD [shoulder Cannon,energy blast, taunt(s)]

what he was talking about on accuracy at least is pve only... your force and tech accuracy is innately 100%. thus the only way you miss is through them defending your attacks and even that isnt a big deal because tech and force attack negates defense chance all together which is pretty much all your attacks. The point... anyone telling you to stack accuracy on VG is probably someone you shouldnt listen to for pvp advise lol sorry. Some accuracy is ok i guess but you have better returns from stacking in other places.

well i guess all that is your choice i run with like 22% crit buffed not including skill tree or set bonus increases. so i can see the difference there but as far as defense goes it still only checks against ranged and melee attacks not tech and force thus your accuracy is worthless since accuracy only matters if defense is on the table. Plus tech/ force accuracy is 100% by defalt. Also it was shield chance that was changed to check against force and tech not defense. but just saying.

Ill just tell you how i tend to play my VG tank (ss spec) becasue its easier. Basically i try to be as tanky as i can ( of course) but i also try to get enough damage to actually be a threat and not just get ignored. The reason i use demolition is because of how much you can spam your elemental attacks in SS spec (with the free shots and energy blast) this makes you have huge amounty of energy if used correctly and thus im constantly using my elemental attacks and thus that demolition is very good. Also my explosive surge crits pretty regularly for 1500-1700 also ion pulse crits for about 1600-1900 Plus bout of these attacks apply the 5% damage debuff to all enemies hit by said attacks (this protection doesnt show up on the charts but its still very helpful to the team if the enemies are all working with debuffed damage on top of your taunts and guards. Also energy blast is an elemental attack Also accuracy is only good for non-force/tech attacks which pretty much all your attacks are tech so it totally bypasses accuracy. the only real increase accuracy helps on VG is HIB which stacking accuracy for one attack isnt worth it imo. I do put a point (s) into focused impact when i need a filler or have extra points but i still choose demolition over FI any day becasue of the above. But again it all comes down to play style so we can give you tips and hints but your the one that has to bet the setup you choose to work for ya. And again just to stress this topic... if you arent using the huge action pool of the vg and your letting it camp at max then your doing something wrong. ( yes i know you should keep it high because its a non-linear recharge rate but just stay within the good recharge rate just use that action) *Edit* something i forgot and one of the most important thing... Control is the VG's game its what we excel at. so i would encourage you to at least get the root for harpoon if not Neural overload as well just as a supplementing factor. Stay within the optimal range 5-9 meters so that the enemy cant just leap to you but u can attack them and then you can go in to do the hard melee hits as needed... the point is to keep his *** slowed lol.

ya everything is relative depending if u are going pvp or pve

firstly not getting sharp satchel is a mistake. secondly soldiers grit really isnt that great. also 1 point in pulse engine is more than enough IMHO because if your doing your job as a tank you are constantly taking damage almost and thus your pulse engine triggers pretty easily even with one point but thats up to u i guess and then decide what you like. Also i would get demolition over focused inpact any day. As to your actual question... i would probably put points in frontline offense rather than endurance because you should be spamming ion pulse sense SS has so much energy. More endurance is nice but i feel like points are better spent in other places as i described and if you have gone over all that and have extra then go endurance